r/AskParents

I have been seeing a lot of discussions about how teachers are quitting their jobs because students are out of control and parents are not being supportive.

My old pre-k teacher back in the 90s told my mom on Facebook “ having supportive and involved parents made everything work well!
Unfortunately, today’s teachers have a totally different experience than I did while teaching your daughter”

Has the situation gotten that bad or do the new generation of teachers just not know how to handle these kids anymore?

I often hear from the teachers side and why they are upset, but never the parents.

I don’t have a kid in school yet, so I don’t have a dog in the fight yet. What is going on?

Shes an only child and knows how to pee and poop in the potty, she can even do it on her own, but she either is lazy or gets too focused on her toys and just goes. At this point it feels like we've been trying to potty train her for over a year. My wife and I have begun scolding her because at first we were telling her it was ok when she soiled herself so she wouldn't get stressed, but her daycare teacher told us to stop that, saying it was regressing her. She started daycare about 6 months ago. She also told us to be firmer with her.

Maybe my wife and I just aren't stressing her enough. We're the opposite in that regard. Once I had her in her baby chair crying for about 45 minutes because she refuses to eat meat at all. She still refuses today. My wife found out and was pissed at me. She's the opposite, she asks my daughter what she wants, and is really struggling with being firm.

My dad says it doesn't matter who's right or wrong, kids are complicated and you just do what works. Our daycare teacher is stressing it because in August my daughter is supposed to move to the next age class but likely won't because she still isn't potty trained.

It's weird because my daughter is way ahead academically. She can count to 100 and last night read a 1st grade book almost herself.

We're tired of washing soiled clothes and her bedsheets every night and are stressed over our daycare teachers expectations. My wife wants to just put pullups on her at night, but the daycare teacher told us no more pullups ever.

Should we take away toys? Should we put her in timeout if she soils herself?

Hello, so for most of my life my parents have had a very traditional dynamic in that my mom didn't work and did all the house work + outside work. But now my dad has had less work for a couple of months while my mom has re-entered the workforce as me and my siblings have moved out. But he just doesn't do anything outside of working (on his own project now). We barely got him to start doing some shopping lately. I don't see him cleaning, so I was thinking of getting him to help outside, we have a lot of field space that needs maintenance, but his back isn't amazing. So I am kind of stumped on how I can change their dynamic, because it's just stressing me and my siblings out anytime we are home. (We help out when we are there)

Thanks a bunch

My partner (33M) and I (30F) are planning on starting a family in the next year or two. We just bought a house with plenty of space, a big backyard, and in a great family-oriented neighborhood. Both of us traveled a lot and lived a lot of life in our 20s and now in our 30s we’re sober, have really settled down and become homebodies.

I rarely leave the house on weekends except to maybe go to the farmer’s market, grocery store, or grab a coffee with a friend. Otherwise, we love hosting friends/family, I personally love spending my time in our new home baking, reading, gardening, etc. Partner is handy and enjoys doing home reno projects. We don’t even really go “out” for date night anymore except maybe taking our dogs to a nearby beach and grabbing a pizza, otherwise as we don’t drink, we much prefer finding a new recipe to make together at home.

All this to say, I feel like I see a lot of discourse from parents who miss going on date nights, having nights out, essentially missing their old lives and I’m curious if already living a slower-paced life will make the transition any easier. Curious to hear any input!

for context im in Australia and im 16 and a girl and in my state the age of consent is 16 as long as the other person Is not a step parent, teacher, religious leader, or coach.

im best friends with and legally dating my boyfriend who is 46 and I know I will get downvoted so much for saying that but I want advice to prove to my mum that this ia a true relationship, not a short one and no inappropriate things are happening at all until marriage. my mum knows him and like she's on the fence like she lets me hang out with him only when she's home and he can drive me places that are a short distance so we dont get to be alone for awhile and she knows were dating and like she said when im 17 we can have the dating discussion again with her but I love him so much like I cant even put it into words hes so kind and funny and cool and respectful and sweet and caring and helpful hes genuinely my dream guy and im going to get married to him one day.

like hes not rude or inappropriate at all and my mum knows that maybe thats why she's not mad but I want to convince her that I should be able to know bc its legal and she cant legally stop it and im not a child anymore I can legally drop out of school and move out if I so wanted to and im the age of consent so im not a child anymore, how to I persuade her? thank youuu pls dont judge :)

I never had kids and my sister had him in her 40’s. He is almost 6. He can be so impossible with her. For example we were at a restaurant and there was a line. Wait was about 20 min. We wanted to wait and so did her son but my sister didn’t want to so we had to go to a different restaurant. Her son cried and yelled how he didn’t want to go there. He starts to walk away from her in the parking lot. She yells at him he cries more. I can’t say anything or she yells at me “stop talking!” We drive to the other restaurant (I’m driving). They are yelling at each other. She is telling him “you have no respect for me!” “You would never act like this with your dad!” They share custody.

We get to the other restaurant and he is melting down how he won’t go there. Our parents are there (his grandparents) and my mom is able to come him down. We go into the restaurant. He seems ok. He loves avocado toast and poached eggs. When it comes he doesn’t like the little lettuce things on it and starts picking it off and throwing it across the table. The server is nice and says she will bring it back without that on it. They bring it back and he doesn’t like that the egg is on top of it and melts down again. “I knew this wouldn’t be good!” he yells and and cries making a scene. My sister takes him outside. A few minutes later she calls me and says we have to leave since he is impossible hitting and pinching her saying he hates her and wants to go to his dads. I pay the bill and get the food wrapped. We go outside and her son is still crying she is yelling at him. He is saying “you are making it worse!” “You’re my enemy!” “You made me go where I didn’t want to!” Our mom tries to calm him down and my sister yells at her to leave and don’t coddle him. (Even though she does in other ways). He won’t leave because he wants to go to the dollar store next to the restaurant but she says no because of how he is acting. Picks him up and he is crying and hitting her. People are watching.

Not sure why it’s like this. With his dad they go places, he is with his cousins and friends. When he is with his mom they rarely go anywhere she just keeps him in the house and they draw and build with legos. When she rarely does take him somewhere she is always fighting with him. Saying his name over and over. Don’t do this don’t do that. You can tell he gets annoyed and rolls his eyes. She also so hypocritical. For example she will tell him she will take him to a gaming place but then doesn’t. Then the other day I mention an event going on and the date was wrong on the website. She got mad at me saying I shouldn’t have mentioned it until I verified the date. Well it was on the website! Not my fault is was wrong. Usually she won’t take him anywhere. Especially anywhere he might see his friends because she never likes any of the mothers.

He is loving towards her also and forgets his meltdowns but when he is mad about something or not getting what he wants he is brutal.

I saw this question posted on Facebook. Majority of the people said they miss the time they had with their spouse when it was just the two of them.

But what do you miss the most pre-children?

Hi parents of Reddit,

A couple of years ago my sister had her first baby while living in central London. One thing she struggled with surprised me: knowing which places were actually suitable to take a baby.

Google Maps could tell her where the nearest cafés, restaurants or museums were, but not whether they had things like high chairs, baby changing facilities or somewhere to warm a bottle. She often found herself digging through reviews and photos hoping someone had mentioned them—and sometimes there was no information at all.

That experience inspired me to start building an app that helps parents find nearby places based on the facilities they actually need. Before I build any more features, I'd love to hear from people who've experienced this themselves.

Some questions I'd love your thoughts on:

• What information do you wish you knew before visiting somewhere with a baby or toddler?
• Which facilities are essential? (Changing table, high chair, bottle warmer, family toilets, breastfeeding space, buggy access, play area, etc.)
• Would photos of the facilities be useful, or are written reviews enough?
• Have you ever arrived somewhere only to discover it didn't have what you needed?
• Is there anything you currently use to find this information, or is it mostly trial and error?

Even if you've only got one story or one annoyance, I'd really appreciate hearing it. My goal is to build something that genuinely makes life a little easier for parents rather than guessing what people need.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Hello we are currently waiting for our second child and are wondering how will be the optimal way to move by car. Can you share your experience with positioning the seats? Are they both on the back? Where is traveling the passenger? In front or back? Because our car is not so spacious Subaru Outback. In the future we can get a new one, but for now this will be our car.

Hello! The reason I’m asking this is because I am autistic and he seemed upset with me and I would like to know why, but I’m feeling very intimidated and don’t want to ask him yet.

I’m 15. I’m staying at my brother’s house for a day or two due to my houses AC being broken. Tonight, his baby started crying, she’s about one years old. I was worried she had soiled herself or something was wrong so I went to check on her, I picked her up (she stopped crying) and somewhat checked to see if she needed a changed diaper (even though the last time I changed I diaper I was 8 years old) and it seemed fine. When I set her back down she began crying again. I didnt want her crying to wake up my brother and his girlfriend. I thought that since my sleep schedule was flipped it would be acceptable to comfort her until she fell back asleep. I simply walked around the babies room with her for a few minutes, she immediately stopped crying. After a while he came in and seemed to be a little upset to me (I could be wrong as I have a hard time telling tones apart)I said “she was crying” and gave her to him because I assumed he would want to take over, he then said nothing and took her into his and his gfs room. Please help me understand!!

i don’t know what a reasonable amount is to ask for (college age)

My husband and I are 30 years old, have been married for 5 years (and together for 10). We’re both in a stable place in our careers, financially settled, and enjoy traveling, hiking, exercising, and socializing on the weekends. In our respective friend groups, a few are starting to have children, but most are still childless with no immediate plans.

Neither one of us are interested in having children in the immediate future, but when I think of my distant-future self I think I’d regret never having children. As time passes, I keep waiting to feel myself growing more and more ready, or more desire to get pregnant, but so far that hasn’t happened. I’m starting to get worried I’m never going to have this feeling of yearning or all consuming assurance that I want to have a baby, and instead we’ll just more or less feel like ‘okay, we’ll it’s now or never.’

For those that didn’t want children and changed their minds, or those in a similar position where you were just waiting for the desire to solidify/materialize, how did it happen?

Not judging, just curious. I didn’t quite get it then and still don’t get it now

Hey,
I’m stuck in confusion if I want kids or not…. I’m not able to decide… well it feels really amazing when you play with new born kids see them grow and feel like you also want one….
But then I got a question that this is a phase of the kids life.
Do parents still feel the same excitement around logs when they grow up ?
Or how does parenting change when they grow up ??

My 6 year old is acting horrible. Showing anger and throwing fits. He witnesses his mother and I fight a lot. I don’t want to ruin his life this way but I don’t want him to be without his parents. Someone please give me advice. He’s the middle son with brothers 15 and 1. I just want what’s best for him.

Hey need everyone's opinion! I have been working on a side-project. It allows kids to make their own storybooks with their preferences and allows kids to upload their homework and have it create a story for them. Let me know what I can work on!

Thanks, let me know what y'all think! WizNook.com

My younger cousin is 13 and im 21.

Recently she's been venting to me about her parents among other topics. Ive been starting to notice that she has been talking/ asking about more political topics.

Now I dont answer everything as even though her relationship with her parents is strained she's still a minor and I feel like I dont have the authority to talk about certain topics.

I encourage her to do her own research. I'm always honest and I tell her if I disagree and will have a chat about it.

I always tell her we can talk about (almost) anything and I'll still love her no matter what.

My worry is, is this age appropriate?

I was quite sheltered as my grandparents wanted me to stay innocent for as long as possible. so I didn't really get into politics until 17-18 and still only in like the last couple years truly took a interest in it.

I've been looking for a way to get cardboard boxes for a good day cuz I need to store a lot of things

But I don't know how to get them I have never seen them on sale before at a grocery store where >!do I get them!<

Our kids are young but I keep going through insane anxiety. I have never loved anything so much and the world seems so dark now. I can’t even fathom leaving them with family yet which is fine , we both don’t feel the need to be away from them at all yet and the time will come but I just have the worst lumps in my throat and knots in my stomach. I can’t even breathe thinking about it at this stage for some reason. Does it slowly ease as they get older?? Help 😭I know I can’t bubble wrap them and keep them locked up but how do you get past the fear of other people and not knowing if they will protect them like I would from strangers ect. My eyes never leave my kids when we’re out but people watching them don’t care as much as a parent would and they have way more kids to watch. New parents here obviously 🥲 does it get easier? I am NOT okay right now. Please be gentle with me.

My son is 13 years old, turning 14 in a couple of months. I really have no idea how I should treat him due to his current lifestyle. I feel like I am in a “Young Sheldon” type situation. He is in 10th grade, doing half dual enrollment, and next school year he will be doing full in-person dual enrollment at a college.

He has been homeschooled for the past seven years, and this is his first and only year in high school, so I am unsure how to approach parenting him. He does not act like a typical 13-year-old in terms of maturity. He mostly cares about his pets, family, and making money. I asked him why he does not talk or interact with children his age, and he responded with something that really left me dumbfounded:

“The reason I don't interact with children my own age is because they are all ticking time bombs and unpredictable. Children my age do not have a true concept of right and wrong; they would lie to save their own skin while I would face the consequences. I do not like unpredictability.”

That concerns me. He has social media, mostly unrestricted. The only reason I allowed that is because he does not interact with bad actors or watch inappropriate content. I installed a monitoring app so I can see everything. His screen time is extremely high, but not in a traditional “bad” way. Most of it is spent reading the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, AI and financial sources, and similar material.

I really wish I was making this up. I have no idea what started this or how to remedy this situation. I am at a loss for words regarding his business knowledge and level of concern.

I go through his contact list and see about 10 people labeled as “future contact” or similar notes. Some of them appear to be CEOs. He started this behavior as early as age 9, when he wanted to attend a business conference and took notes during a talk where Steve Forbes was present. At 9 years old, he received a signed magazine and a personal email.

He treats everything as a risk. I do not know what to do. I have tried taking away screen time, but he finds other ways to access business articles. He has also invested all his money into different stocks and development projects, only leaving some money for his reptiles.

I feel lost and need guidance. Should I put restrictions on his phone? Should I treat him the same as his age group, or differently? I am not sure. I have asked him about relationships and whether he has a girlfriend, and he said they are “calculated risks” and that any relationship that does not make you money should be cut off, except family. I have even put money into some of the investments he is involved in as well.